Emily Thornberry today vowed to be an 'unashamedly socialist' Labour leader if she takes over from Jeremy Corbyn as she also pledged to quit if she did badly in the top job.

Jess Phillips acknowledged it was 'very difficult' for people to stand back from the contest, but warned it would be 'embarrassing' if Labour elected another man to its top job.

The Conservatives now have a massive 17-point advantage over Labour, according to the latest research by Opinium - up from around 12 points at the election.

Labour's membership has grown by more than 100,000 since the party's devastating general election loss.

Jeremy Corbyn is said to have put forward the former Commons custodian for a seat in the upper chamber, as well as some of his closest left-wing cronies.

A YouGov poll found 71 per cent of them have a favourable view of Mr Corbyn. Second on 70 per cent was Ed Miliband, another election loser, while John Smith came third on 67 per cent.

The Wigan MP used a media interview this morning to claim the 'consensus that Thatcher built lasted all the way through the New Labour years' under Mr Blair and then Gordon Brown.

The leadership candidate said there are 'really experienced, amazing people' in the parliamentary Labour party and that 'we've got to have that good mix of talent in there'.

Members of Unite, the second largest union in Britain, backed the shadow business secretary after a ballot this afternoon, as well as Richard Burgon for deputy leader.

Footage shows shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon arguing with shadow Equalities Minister Dawn Butler as they addressed potential voters in Leeds.

The Unite the union boss said critics of the shadow business secretary 'would be better to clear out now' amid reports some are planning to quit Labour if she wins the contest.

Jeremy Corbyn delivered an apparent endorsement of Rebecca Long-Bailey at a retirement party for former MP Ronnie Campbell over the weekend.

Six weeks after the dramatic election victory, YouGov research put the Conservatives on 49 per cent, far ahead of their main rivals on 29 per cent.

Analysis of the party's 80-seat defeat - its worst since 1935 - blamed Brexit policy, attacks by the media and even the lingering impact of Tony Blair's leadership in northern seats it lost.

Former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson swiped that left-winger Jeremy Corbyn had helped deliver a 'stonking' majority for the Tories last month.

The outgoing Labour leader, whose public appearances have been limited since he lost the election in December, was in the chamber for an update on the impact of Storm Ciara.

A survey of more than 10,000 people found that more than half of traditional Labour voters who defected to other parties in December did so to prevent the opposition leader becoming PM.

HENRY DEEDES: The Leader of the Opposition kicked off by attacking this week's deportation of foreign nationals to Jamaica, citing the case of a black boy deported for a drugs charge.

Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Emily Thornberry were on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning and were taken to task by 'Jay', a former Labour voter.

Lachlan Stuart, a personal friend of Corbyn who co-wrote the Labour manifesto, said Ms Long Bailey was 'not fit to lead' because of her views on trans.

More than half of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) which backed Mr Corbyn in the leadership contest in 2015 have endorsed soft-left candidate Sir Keir Starmer this year.

Labour leadership challenger Lisa Nandy has said she would vote to abolish the monarchy at a referendum while rival Rebecca Long-Bailey refused to name a former party leader she admired.

The outgoing leader, who led Labour to its worst election defeat since the 1930s in December, spoke as he toured areas affected by flooding in Wales this afternoon.

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Labour activists the party risks being out of power for a generation unless it unites and fights the Tories.

Sir Keir is predicted to get 53 per cent of votes in the first round of counting which would be enough for him to surpass the 50 per cent threshold needed to win the race to replace Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir Starmer backed readmitting Alastair Campbell, who was kicked out by Jeremy Corbyn's allies after admitting he voted for the Liberal Democrats in European elections.

Lisa Nandy tonight blasted Sir Keir Starmer and labelled his Brexit policy a 'disaster' as she tried to salvage her Labour leadership campaign.

The rudderless party could lose 315 councillors and control of heartland cities including Sheffield under the worst-case scenario laid out for the May 7 poll.

HENRY DEEDES: Tottering into the chamber at that very moment was Priti Patel. As the Home Secretary made her way awkwardly to her seat, Jezza's eyes...

GUY ADAMS: Trevor Phillips has fought racism all his life, while the party under Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of anti-Semitism and is being investigated by the EHRC.

The party said a special conference due to be held on April 4 had been cancelled, along with remaining hustings events, with a spokeswoman saying a scaled-back event' would replace it.

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer is expected to romp to victory when the result of the contest is announced on Saturday.

The fervently pro-Corbyn Momentum group reacted to Sir Keir's overwhelming triumph by vowing to hold the new leader to account 'and make sure he keeps his promises'.

Sir Keir Starmer has made leadership rival Lisa Nandy his shadow foreign secretary as the new Labour leader announced a series of senior appointments to his top team.

Rochdale's Tony Lloyd, 70, the party's shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, is being cared for at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Mr Miliband has been brought back as shadow business secretary as Sir Keir announced a second wave of changes after replacing Jeremy Corbyn.

New Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer has spent his first week on the job culling hard-left members of the Labour Shadow Cabinet, much to the anger of Momentum.

The internal report found that Jeremy Corbyn did little to help discipline offenders of anti-Semitism in the UK's Labour Party until two years ago.

Dawn Butler (pictured) said there was no doubt the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will find that her party discriminated against Jews.

Ministers should call on the NATO military alliance to use its resources to airlift PPE during the coronavirus outbreak, shadow defence secretary John Healey has said.

A glamorous Sydney socialite who shot to fame in 2017 after a viral video, has won a long-standing battle to renovate her $10 million harbourside mansion.

Martin Parkinson, who last year retired as head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, has described China's economic threat against Australia as a 'wake-up call' and a 'favour'.

Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard continued to ream into Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, slamming her foreign policy as a 'disaster' that cost millions of lives.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib encouraged a crowd of Bernie Sanders supporters to boo Hillary Clinton over the 2016 Democratic nominee saying that 'nobody liked' the Vermont senator.

Mike Bloomberg is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate, a source close to his campaign has told Drudge Report.

Alexander Blackman was found guilty by only five of the seven jurors trying him, it was claimed yesterday. The other two officers on the court martial panel are said to have come under ‘very considerable pressure’ to change their not guilty verdicts.

Author Frederick Forsyth, 77, raises the possibility that the Taliban fighter shot by Sergeant Alexander Blackman may well have been dead at the moment that the Marine fired at him.

Lord Burnett, who was a Royal Marine commando for seven years, said the court martial which found Alexander Blackman guilty of murder for shooting a wounded Taliban gunman, was flawed.

His wife Claire was in court as the Lord Chief Justice denied his immediate release from prison where he is serving a life sentence for shooting a Taliban fighter.

Jailed Royal Marine Alexander Blackman was 'suffering from the trauma of war' in Afghanistan when he shot a wounded Taliban fighter dead, an appeal court heard.